US Bars Senior EU Envoys from Gaza Coordination Hub after “Israeli” Request

By Staff, Agencies

Following an “Israeli” request, the US has barred senior European diplomats accredited to the Palestinian Authority [PA] from a facility set up by Washington to monitor the situation in the Gaza Strip.

The “Israeli” entity’s Ha’aretz paper carried the report on Thursday, saying the facility, dubbed by Washington as the so-called “Civil-Military Coordination Center [CMCC],” had initially welcomed international envoys when it opened near the coastal sliver.

But diplomats said access restrictions steadily tightened over the recent weeks, the report said.

“The first incident occurred when the head of the Netherlands mission to the PA was barred from re-entering the center after two prior visits,” it added.
Belgium’s representative to the city of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank and a French diplomat in the occupied territories were later prevented from accessing the site under the same policy.

European officials said the American diplomatic offices in the occupied territories began requiring written access requests.
One European state filed the required paperwork, but received no response, and its envoy was later informed by US officials that “Tel Aviv” had requested the prohibition.

This is while, according to a European diplomat, early engagement with American personnel at the CMCC was characterized by openness.
The same diplomat, meanwhile, added that many American staff “did not know much about Gaza or the Palestinians,” besides noting that “Israeli” influence over the center “has grown” since its launch.

Several diplomats argued that the CMCC had to be visited by Western officials at least knowledgeable about the Palestinian society, especially in light of lack of all Palestinian representation at the site.

Another envoy said “Israeli” officials had communicated the decision directly, and that when European missions protested to US diplomats, Washington maintained that the request had come from “Tel Aviv” and alleged that the US itself was “not satisfied” with the policy.

The United States has set up the CMCC to follow implementation of a proposal forwarded by Donald Trump that the US president says is aimed at ending the “Israeli” war of genocide on Gaza.

The entity, however, has sustained the genocidal pattern amid widespread criticism of the proposal, which observers say, is heavily tilted towards “Tel Aviv”.

They cite the proposal’s failure to extract any guarantees from “Tel Aviv” to end the war and withdraw from Gaza, which began facing the genocide in October 2023.